Next Year

[valleyrabbit]

Well. . . this season is done. We had ups (Iowa State, Oakland at Frost, ORU) and downs (0-9 on the road in Summit, losing in the Summit tourney), but the future is bright. I believe this team will be much better next season and even better the year after. Right now we can cheer for the women and the team that represents the Summit in the NCAA. I think from a conference perspective that Oakland or NDSU are our (Summit League) best shoot to pull an upset in the Big Dance.

Nagy has done a fine job getting us through the transition. The men's program is almost back. Fans are starting to get familiar with the Summit League. Let's stay positive. We will be playing in the championship before we know it.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Next Year

I think Coach Nagy has done a great job of adjusting after having his program battered by departures and bad luck. He has refocused recruiting on the region. Anybody care to argue that Carlson, Fiegen and White aren't D1 recruits? He has adjusted his offense to better match the mid-major game and the players he can get.

Next year we have everbody who contributed significant minutes back and we add redshirt freshman James Rader, a 6'7" guy who can score. We don't know if any of the incoming recruits will play (Carlson is redshirting for sure) but if they do, they'll add additional depth.

I think it's obvious that Oakland will be the favorite next year. But SDSU will be in the mix.

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Next Year

Oakland should be the favorite and ORU will really be up there as well. Heck, I wouldn't put it past Sutton to win it next year. After that it's a crap shoot.

IUPUI should be a pretty good team. They had 5 losses by 5 or less this year and only lose one player.

State should be up here as well. I think lack of size really hurt this year, as well as depth. State has lost alot of close games the past two years and if they trend changes, or at least evens out, the record will improve greatly. If Davis can return the size is improved. Depth should also be improved as everyone is back and true frosh White is available (I think Fiegen and Carlson will redshirt) and we get the services of 6'7 Rader and 6'8 Pederson.

[Kemo]

Re: Next Year

My thoughts...

The Summit League was dominated by seniors this year, as only 2 out of the top 10 leading scores (Callahan-SDSU, Baker-SUU) were not seniors, but there are a lot of tested players who may be ready to step up and take their place, as 14 of the top 25 scorers were juniors or younger. SDSU has 4 of the top 25 scorers in the league, all of which return, while the rest of the league's teams will have to replace their leading score with the exception of SDSU, Southern Utah, and IUPUI. SDSU's key to next season will be defense, for that was the bane of the team in almost every lose of the year. If there is even marginal improvement in the category, there is no doubt that the Jacks will be a top 3 team in the league next year, and they could very easily win the league with exceptional defensive improvement.

Another key to the 2009-2010 season will fall upon the general development of this year's role players, for the benifit of possessing reliable, experienced depth without having to forfeit the redshirt year of any of our talented true freshman will take pressure off the starters and keep them fresh (along with benifiting the program for future years to come).

Josh Cassaday's offseason development, along with the health of the Anthony Davis, will be the main determinate as to whether or not we see Fiegen or White redshirt (I am assuming Carlson will be redshirted no matter what). Cassaday struggled earlier in the season and was a liability to have on the court at times, but showed improvement in both defense and rebounding towards the end of the year, displaying the potential of being a valuable bench player who could allow Cordova (and potentially Davis) to get more breathers as well as provide more opportunities to for Kai to play his natural 3 spot. Rader's abiltiy to contribute after his redshirt year will be a factor as well.

If Anthony Cordova shows even a fraction of the improvement he did from last year to this season in 2009-10, look for him to win the conference player of the year. He really has become a player a team can run an offense through, and if Nagy utilizes him this way, look for him be top 10 in the conference in the points, rebounding, and assist categories, potentially even the top 5 in all these categories.

[TeaJackrabbit]

Re: Next Year

Early prediction for next year:

1.) Oakland (3rd place in 2008)
2.) ORU (2)
3.) IUPUI (4)
4.) STATE (7)
5.) IPFW (5)
6.) S. Utah (6)
7.) Centenary (9)
8.) UMKC (10)
9.) NDSUm (1)
10.) W. Illinois (8)

[joeboo22]

Re: Next Year

watched a lot of games this year and overal I like what the Jacks have and what they will have join the team...

They need some defensive help on the block... They seem to give up way to many lay-ups, Kai shouldn't be guarding the other teams 5....

They take too many bad jump shots when Cordova isn't in, I think with Feigen and hopefully Davis that this will help because you can run the offense through either of them on the block.

dry spots... they were notorious for having 5 minute spells where they struggle....

But overall I think that what they have join the team should help.... I saw some video of Rader just stroking it from outside, Pederson should help as he is similar to Rader and can stroke it from the perimiter but also can guard a big man.... I hope both Callahans improve, they both had great years but it seemed like both but Griffin to be specific would make a great move to have the layup roll out, and both seemed to make foolish fouls at times (nitpicking).... White and Feigen should help, Feigen can play that 4 spot good and could be part of a solid high low offense with Cordova. White will really help free up Cordova and Kai because he can stroke it or take it to the hoop.... possibility that they add another player also...

I think that things are on the right track, now I hope that they don't regress next year but from the beginning of the year, loss to SMSU, loss to Denver, bad win against Upper Iowa, to winning at Iowa State, beating 8 of the 9 conference fows and should of won many more is an improvement to me....

[RowdyRabbit]

Re: Next Year

The lack of a big man in the middle (specifically defense, as AC has been very solid inside on O) was definitely a problem this year.

Having said that, I'm looking very forward to next year, assuming Davis will play, also, wondering if we'll use that last scholly on a big man....don't know.

I'm hoping Grif Callahan performs a little better next year, Gar Callahan will be solid, Sargent will be solid, Kai will be solid.

Also looking forward to seeing James Rader, Fiegen/White, and the various other guys we've got coming in/moving up on the bench.

[JackJD]

Re: Next Year

I think Coach Nagy has done a great job of adjusting after having his program battered by departures and bad luck. He has refocused recruiting on the region. Anybody care to argue that Carlson, Fiegen and White aren't D1 recruits? He has adjusted his offense to better match the mid-major game and the players he can get.

Next year we have everbody who contributed significant minutes back and we add redshirt freshman James Rader, a 6'7" guy who can score. We don't know if any of the incoming recruits will play (Carlson is redshirting for sure) but if they do, they'll add additional depth.

I think it's obvious that Oakland will be the favorite next year. But SDSU will be in the mix.

I agree. The future of the Summit League is bright. I think NDSU will be down but graduation may not be as devastating as some predict. I thought Southern Utah at times looked good during the Tourney and they lose only a couple of players. The bottom portion of the Summit League next year may contain some of the same teams as this season but the overall quality should be noticeably better.

[LakeJack]

Re: Next Year

It will be good to have Seniors that play again. The Jacks will be good next year.

[zooropa]

Re: Next Year

Oakland should be very good. I think the only significant loss is Kangas, and they're getting Derrick Nelson back (one of their leading scorers in '06/'07), and they've got a transfer from St. Johns that will be starting next year.

ORU is as good a bet as any for the #2, as Sutton is just that good of a coach, and their talent is (like the Jacks and OU) spread out among their classes.

What SDSU needs next year is for either Kai or Garrett to step up as the team leader on-court. Like it or not, they need to take a lesson from the ladies, and decide that they're going to bring energy to the court, instead of waiting for it to come from wherever.....

NDSU is apparently bringing on some good talent, but their pretty iffy with sophomores and juniors--having only Tweidt (who's, I think, a senior next year) that's a known quantity. SDSU, reasonably, should finish higher than NDSU next year.

[FargoBison]

Re: Next Year

Tveidt will be a junior. I think NDSU is a mid-level team next year(3 to 6), there is talent but the team will be going through quite an adjustment period.

Oakland will be without a doubt the class of the league, and beyond the Griz I could see a four or five team logjam. I think the only team that is going to horrible is UMKC, that team was just a mess this year.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Next Year

Tveidt will be a junior. I think NDSU is a mid-level team next year(3 to 6), there is talent but the team will be going through quite an adjustment period.

Oakland will be without a doubt the class of the league, and beyond the Griz I could see a four or five team logjam. I think the only team that is going to horrible is UMKC, that team was just a mess this year.

I think you're right about the logjam next year. Tveidt was tremendous in the Summit Tourney. He's a great player to build a team around.

UMKC's struggles are hilarious to me. A couple of years ago when we beat UMKC down there, a KC Star guy wrote a really stupid column about how low the UMKC program had gone, losing to us. I emailed him and mentioned that we were a good D2 program and were on our way back up, and he wrote a nasty email back about what a joke SDSU is and how UMKC should always beat us. He didn't even know that we were joining their conference the following year.

Um... how's UMKC doing now, d-bag?

[Golden Eagle]

Re: Next Year

The KC Star recently wrote an article questioning whether or not UMKC should drop back to D2.

UMKC used to be conference contender when they could get KC area recruits to stick around.

As long as Brown is coaching at UMKC they will be awful. Why they didn't try to get a KU or MU assistant I'll never know.

Watch for Jim Molinari to turn WIU around. His first recruiting class is impressive and he has coached at every level of basketball (mid-major, major, NBA scout) so he has contacts.

[filbert]

Re: Next Year

My knee-jerk evaluation of the overall future competitiveness of the Summit schools:

I think that between Oakland, ORU, NDSU, and SDSU, the Summit will have a core group of schools that will year-in and year-out put competitive teams on the court. All of those have the fan support and community backing to be in the top half of the conference every year.

WIU is potentially in that group, too. IUPUI and IPFW have potential if they can improve their fan/support base, but they both face difficult competition within their local markets (especially IUPUI). SUU will always be a wild card. UMKC needs a drastic upgrade in administration and in community support. Centenary is just too small an institution, and in too competitive a local market to be consistently competitive in the conference. (Look at their women's basketball record the past five years--now THAT'S a disgrace.)

[Germane]

Re: Next Year

The situation at UMKC is interesting, and I think it should serve as a cautionary tale for people who were calling for Scott Nagy's head this year. The story is pretty well known: a couple of years ago UMKC had a new AD come in (Tim Hall), who fired the men's BB coach (Rich Zvosec) within the first month, and the subsequent hire of Matt Brown has turned into a disaster that the program may not recover from.

Oakland's Greg Kampe and other Summit coaches have been very public in praising Nagy as a coach. How much praise have Kampe or other Summit coaches given Brown? Zip. Keep Nagy, at the very least through the end of next year. The program is on the right track. Of course, UMKC also seemed to be headed in the right direction when Zvosec was fired to make way for the guy who would take the program to the "next level".....